Zeigler asks court to block commissioner meeting

Friday

Jul 30, 2010 at 12:01 AMJul 30, 2010 at 11:34 PM

Embattled Stark County Treasurer Gary Zeigler went to court Friday hoping to stop a Monday meeting that could remove him from office. Zeigler’s attorney filed a motion for a temporary restraining order in Stark County Common Pleas Court.

Shane Hoover

Gary Zeigler’s attorneys want a judge to stop Stark County commissioners from removing Zeigler from his post as county treasurer.

Commissioners are planning to meet Monday afternoon to decide Zeigler’s fate, but that could change if the court intervenes after a telephone conference with both sides set for earlier in the day.

In papers filed Friday afternoon in Stark County Common Pleas Court, Zeigler’s attorneys argue that removing him from office at this point violates his constitutional rights and will cause irreparable harm because no law provides for Zeigler’s reinstatement, even if the removal is later deemed improper.

But Commissioners Peter Ferguson and Todd Bosley said the meeting will go forward unless a judge says otherwise.

LAWSUIT FILED

On Wednesday, the county auditor and commissioners sued Zeigler, seeking to recover the nearly $3 million found missing from his office by state auditors, plus a 10 percent penalty.

By suing Zeigler, the commissioners, who have called for the treasurer’s resignation, have the option of removing him from office.

The lawsuit also goes after the companies that provided Zeigler’s bonds and his former chief deputy, Vincent J. Frustaci, who has pleaded guilty to stealing $2.46 million over a six-year period and is to be sentenced in September.

FAULTY PREMISE?

In court papers, Zeigler’s attorneys said he should stay in office until he can respond to the lawsuit and “have a proper hearing in a court of law.”

Earlier this week, county prosecutors told Zeigler that he could be on the hook for half of the missing funds after other avenues of payment are exhausted.

But the investigation by state auditors and the FBI found no wrongdoing by Zeigler, and the county has no basis for the faulty premise that he is personally liable for the missing money, attorneys Dennis Thompson and Christy Bishop argued in their motion.

The attorneys, who didn’t return a call seeking comment, also contend the state auditor’s failure to detect Frustaci’s theft for several years exempts Zeigler from liability.

“Had the state auditor’s office performed as it should have under the law, defendant would not even be facing the claims and arguments he is now,” they argued in the motion.

Zeigler also is asking the court to appoint his own attorneys at tax-payer expense.

COUNTY RESPONSE

Assistant Stark County Prosecutor Ross Rhodes agreed that Zeigler wasn’t found to have engaged in wrongdoing, but stood by the county’s assertion that the treasurer, as a public official, is personally liable for the missing money.

“It is a harsh rule,” Rhodes said. “It is the law, in our view.”

The Ohio Supreme Court has appointed H.F. Inderlied Jr., a retired judge from Geauga County, to handle the case following Judge Charles E. Brown Jr.’s decision to recuse himself.

Rhodes said the parties are scheduled have a telephone conference with Inderlied on Monday morning.